Louder Than Words
by PersonOfDisinterest
Summary: After wreaking havoc on Mankind, Viridi learns how to truly say sorry.


"I can't believe you're making me do this."

Palutena elegantly crossed one leg over the other. "I am not forcing anything upon you, Viridi. It is a choice you made yourself, and one for which I highly commend you."

"That's easy for you to say," the little Goddess replied, grumpily folding her arms.

"So it is," Palutena agreed, "just as it was for you to say 'sorry'. However, a mere apology cannot earn you forgiveness; true atonement requires appropriate action."

"There's nothing 'appropriate' about this!"

Palutena reached down to make modest the bare upper thigh the fashionable slit in her pure white dress had exposed. "I disagree. I could very easily have had my entire court in attendance, Viridi; however, mercifully I have gifted to you the opportunity to atone for you sins in private."

And it was true. The grand hall was empty but for the two of them, Goddesses of Nature and Skyworld respectively, the latter of which was seated upon a golden, decorated throne above the former, whose physical form resembled a pale-skinned girl on the cusp of puberty. Blonde hair tumbling down to the back of her knees, Viridi's multicoloured dress was decorated with the element over which she ruled, her beautiful locks tamed with a thick twist of vine that produced a long ponytail. There was still defiance in her eyes as she looked up at Palutena, whose evergreen tresses flowed around her body like a silken sheet.

"Sins," Viridi scoffed. "Pah!"

Palutena frowned. "Your tone displeases me," she told her fellow Goddess. "If you have come to these halls only to battle me with words, then there is little point in us conducting the proceedings. You will earn neither forgiveness, or my blessing, with such an attitude."

Viridi muttered something through gritted teeth. Palutena smiled.

"So, are you ready?"

The blonde girl nodded curtly, circles of heat beginning to form in her cheeks as she looked away.

"Then present yourself before me, as naked as the day you were borne into being."

"What?!" Viridi gasped, eyes back on her in an instant.

Palutena leaned forward, lips expectantly curved. "Strip."

* * *

It was cold. Viridi shivered as she stood there, utterly bare, her dress neatly folded and set to the side - even the vine with she tied back her hair removed at Palutena's insistence. Her locks fell to tickle her ankles, and though it shielded her back it was far from enough to keep her warm. The floor was chill beneath the arch of her soles and the air crawled over her skin like the bristly legs of a dozen spiders. Viridi liked spiders; she thought they were cute. Right now however, as she pressed her small thighs together and wrapped thin arms across her delicate chest, the Goddess hated the mere thought of them.

"Why have I made you shed your clothes?" Palutena called down from her throne.

Viridi challenged the woman's subtle, irritating smile. "Because you're a pervert?"

The Goddess chuckled. "No, dear. It is so that you may proper appreciate the shame you have brought upon yourself, and to lay bare the truth of your desire for redemption. I can see all of you, Viridi, even that which you try to hide from me."

"That's a long winded excuse just to get me naked," Viridi fumed.

Uncrossing her legs, Palutena gracefully shifted forward to perch herself on the edge of her seat. The patterned hem of her dress fell to preserve her modesty, shielding even her ankles from view. Legs together, the Goddess struck a patient, maternal pose as she patted the top of her thigh.

"Come, child."

Despite the fact that she took its form Viridi resented being referred to as the young girl she appeared to be, when her true age stretched so far into aeons past she had long since forgotten how to count them. Nevertheless, as she moved forward and began climbing the marble steps leading up to Palutena's throne, Viridi did indeed feel like a child, small, uncertain and deeply embarrassed as she came to stand before the Goddess. She reached forward, hands smoothing down Viridi's hair from the crown of her head to her shoulders, whereby cool, soft palms then travelled down to her waist, settling on the girl's narrow hips as Palutena looked her straight in the eye.

"You are a lovely creature, Viridi."

The Goddess didn't know what to do or say in the moment besides blush profusely. It was at that point that Palutena's hands fell a little further. Viridi squeaked when she felt the woman pinch her little tush.

"Wonderful," Palutena said, smiling. "I have much to work with."

For some reason, that made Viridi feel very wary, so much so that she began trembling on the spot. She could only use the biting chill of the hall as an excuse for a few moments longer, because that was when she was manoeuvred to stand beside the Goddess' legs. "Place your hands on top of your head," Palutena told her. Viridi was reluctant to do so, still protectively embracing herself. Palutena, however, was no longer smiling, and she grabbed the girl's wrist, pulling her arms apart. The look the Goddess now favoured her with lead Viridi to be quick to obey, and so she stood - with barely there breasts and hairless 'pits on show - waiting for Palutena's next command. It could only be one thing.

"Good," the Goddess said, her voice laced with severity. "Now, Viridi, lay yourself across my knees. And for your crimes against Mankind, you shall atone."

* * *

Viridi was kicking and screaming - and by then all Palutena had done was carefully brush aside lengthy golden locks and begin stroking her cute bottom. Because it was at that moment the Goddess realised exactly what kind of trouble she'd gotten herself into.

"Let me go! Let me _go!_ "

But it was too late; she was going nowhere. Palutena held her down firmly, sweeping a leg out from underneath Viridi and clamping it down over the back of the girl's thighs. Viridi reached out desperately for anything she could use to help pull herself free, a wild grasp narrowly missing the golden sceptre propped up against the throne. And then the blows began to fall.

"Ow! _Ow!_ Owwww!"

Both buttocks treated to a continuous barrage of stinging smacks, Viridi squirmed with all her might. Palutena, however, ensured it was to no avail, pinning her in place and punishing her for the effort. Viridi's rear was soon afire, cheeks deeply pink beneath the assault of Palutena's palms - and the Goddess was only getting started.

"You will remember this, Viridi," the woman spoke, reaching to the side for her sceptre, "for days to come. Because you shall not remain seated for long before the heat with which you are chastised gnashes at your little, round, bottom!"

Viridi cried out when Palutena punctuated those final words with the sharpest smacks yet, each blow delivered with stunning strength. And then she was left to whimper and sob as the Goddess picked up and began twirling the golden staff in her hand. Viridi craned her neck to try and see what Palutena was doing - or rather about to do. Her eyes grew wide at the sight of the sceptre.

"You can't use that are you crazy?!"

"I assure you, I am of my right mind," Palutena replied, eyeing her sternly. "But I question whether you are, Viridi, to speak so frankly to the one doling out your _punishment_."

The girl's eyes widened even further. "I -I'm sorry! Really!"

The sapphire hovering above the head of Palutena's sceptre began to glow. "That's easy for you to _say_ ," the Goddess told her, and with a sudden flash her royal implement transformed.

Viridi gaped at the narrow, hard-backed, gold trimmed paddle Palutena now held in her grip, a glittering blue stone set beautifully into the handle. And quickly started babbling. "Palutena please I'm really so so sorry, for everything! I've atoned!"

The Goddess merely raised the paddle into the air. "That, is for _me_ to decide."

Little legs kicked out at angles Viridi didn't even know existed when she was struck for the first time. The world flashed white; the only sound she could hear was shrieking. And the whistle of the golden paddle as it sliced down through the air. Again and again and again. And again. And again. And again, until Viridi didn't know what was up, down, left or right as she thrashed about wildly. All she knew was that someone was begging Palutena to stop, amidst harsh wails and hoarse screaming. The Goddess, however, did not hold back.

In time, the little girl's buttocks shone like freshly picked cherries. Red lines streaked the back of her thighs just underneath them, evidence of the paddle's thorough work. Viridi had stopped kicking. She had stopped screaming. She merely gurgled incoherently as Palutena delivered five more swats to her bottom, lying utterly limp and boneless across the woman's lap. A puddle of tears had formed at the feet of Palutena's throne, dripping freely down Viridi's messy chin. She was, as the Goddess delivered her final smack, finally broken.

Almost.

* * *

"Spread your legs."

Sniffling, Viridi obeyed, parting her feet to shoulder width.

"Further."

A soft hiss escaped the Goddess' throat; any little movement now stoked the fire creeping up the back of her thighs, but she did as she was told. Her buttocks burned so hotly Viridi didn't even think to wonder why.

"Good," Palutena said, once more seated with one leg crossed over the other. "Now bend over and hold onto your ankles."

Lengthy blonde locks rustled quietly as they tumbled over her head and pooled onto the floor. Viridi obediently bowed forward, whimpering as the posture Palutena required of her began to pull open her cheeks, stretching tight the skin around her anus. Her legs were quivering as she reached for her ankles, muscles pulled taut. Though young, her body was not particularly flexible. She'd never had much of a reason to teach it to be. Thus there was a slight bend in her knees when Viridi finally caught a good grip around her joints, which actually helped open up her puckered ring of muscle a touch more. Standing at the top of the steps leading to the throne with her parted buttocks pointed towards the empty hall, the girl moaned in shame.

"You've done well so far, Viridi," Palutena told her. "There is sincerity in each breath you draw, in each tear that falls from your eye. But."

The little Goddess started to whine, lips trembling, because as she soon as she heard Palutena take pause Viridi knew her ordeal was yet to end. And it was true, but what Skyworld's Goddess had in store for her, Viridi could not have predicted.

"I had you bare yourself before me, so that I could see all of you in honest truth," Palutena said. "But I can still see defiance in you, a stubborn will yet to break."

"That's not true!" Viridi cried down at the marble floor. "I'm sorry!"

"Your outburst is proof enough. You must surrender everything to me, Viridi, if you truly want forgiveness."

And with that, Palutena turned her sceptre in her hands and thumped the butt of the staff to the floor.

Beyond the echo that rippled past her, Viridi heard nothing for a long moment. Then there was a loud, persistent creak: the sound of the hall's doors being pushed open.

"Do _not_ let go of those ankles," Palutena warned sharply, when the little Goddess gasped in sudden fright. Viridi began to panic.

"You told me we were going to do this in private!"

"And have we not?" Palutena replied. "I have meted out your punishment; now the common people will behold your penitence."

"I won't," Viridi cried, between her legs watching the denizens of Skyworld begin filing into the hall. "Not in front of everyone!"

And she began to lift her head -

"Stay. Where. You are."

The Goddess froze, feeling something cold and thin flatten against her cheeks. Viridi tilted her face just enough to peek through a minute gap in the locks of hair thrown over the top of her head. Her mouth hung open, letting escape the most fearful whine yet, for Palutena no longer held in her hand a sceptre but a long, golden switch. One that slid down to settle right between the curves of her buttocks.

"What are you doing?" the girl whispered, trembling bodily as the tip of the switch brushed carefully over her twitching anus.

"I did not wish to resort to this," the throned Goddess spoke solemnly, "but you leave me no choice. Submit your will, Viridi, or be painted with the atrocities you committed forever!"

The crack of the switch left the entire court wincing. Viridi, upon whose sensitively stretched ring the implement had landed, did not move or make a sound. Her whole body was momentarily paralysed, so overwhelming was the pain that lashed her through and through, a piercing squeal trapped in her throat. And then the moment passed; with it, the little Goddess dropped to the floor, screaming.

"Rise, Viridi," Palutena called out to her, "let the people see your sincerity."

The girl was crying - really crying. Tears splattered the marble as her chest heaved. Everything hurt. Everything was on fire. What drove her back up onto her feet, Viridi could not say. Perhaps it was Pit, lined up at front and centre of the hall with his mouth agape, or Phosphora, her commander, beside him, who Viridi could not bear to look weak in front of. Or perhaps it was the sight of Dark Pit, standing behind the two, struggling to hide an all too obvious smirk. _Bastard._

"Good," Palutena said, stroking her buttocks with the switch, "good. You are close, Viridi, so close. Again!"

 _CRACK!_

The world folded inwards. When Viridi opened her eyes again, her head was pressed to the cool marble floor and she heard howling. Then the pain blossomed through her, emanating from her sore, swelling hole, and her whole body shook.

"Stand," Palutena called.

The girl moved her head. She wasn't sure if she was shaking or nodding it, but she _was_ sure that it was over. She couldn't stand; she couldn't take any more.

" _Stand to your feet, Viridi!"_

It was madness. Surely it was madness that had taken over her, that made Viridi pull herself up off her knees and reach, trembling like an autumn leaf in blustery winter wind, down to her ankles. She felt the tip of Palutena's implement caress her burning ring, once, twice, thrice. And then it lifted away. Viridi pulled her eyes tightly shut, tears squeezed out onto the floor. It was where she ended up when, with a crack of finality, the golden switch lashed through the air.

* * *

Palutena waited for some time, allowing silence to reign in the grand hall. Silence but for the loud, nasal weeping of the little Goddess curled up at the top of the steps. Golden locks strewn thickly around her, chest heaving in true sorrow, the girl lay on the floor crying out her very heart. It was enough. Palutena sighed and, for the first time since Viridi had entered her halls, rose to her feet.

The people of Skyworld watched as she approached her fellow Goddess, upon reaching Viridi descending with maternal grace to her knees. Tenderly, Palutena stroked the girl's hair. And then she leaned over her, sliding her arms underneath Viridi's 'pits. The girl clutched onto her as she was lifted up off the floor and drawn into Palutena's motherly embrace, who scooped shimmering, evergreen tresses around her shoulder and shielded Viridi's nakedness from the court. The Goddess then spoke for all to hear, looking down at the girl as she sobbed quietly into her chest.

"You are forgiven, child."


End file.
